Ruth Langsford says she demanded same pay as husband Eamonn Holmes as ITV’s This Morning couple talks Strictly Come Dancing and sex
THEY’RE the best-loved couple on British television, thanks to their down-to-earth charm and playful bickering.
But behind the scenes, Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford both mean business.
With the gender pay gap debate reaching boiling point, Ruth has revealed she now insists on receiving an equal salary to her husband whenever they work together.
And the This Morning host revealed the same rules apply to any other male hosts who find themselves working alongside her.
The 57-year-old said: “I insist now on being paid the same. I insist now that I do. But as we all know, in the past I’ve worked not just with Eamonn.
“The thing is you don’t normally discuss your pay when you’re a co-presenter, but obviously I do with my husband because he’s my husband.”
The BBC’s list of highest-earning presenters caused an outcry when it was published last year because it highlighted the huge disparity between male and female stars.
Radio 2’s Chris Evans, 51, topped the list with a salary of £2.2million. But Claudia Winkleman, 46, who was the highest-earning woman, took home a wage of just under £500,000 — more than four times less than Chris.
The fall-out prompted an infuriated Ruth to demand the same pay as Eamonn, 58 — and she wasn’t about to take no for an answer.
She adds: “I basically wouldn’t work for them if they weren’t paying me the same if I’m doing the same job, whether I’m with my husband or any other male co-presenter.”
As Eamonn jokes that he had been forced to take a pay cut to bring their salaries into line, Ruth jibes: “Don’t be flippant about this — seriously. Because that will get me into trouble.”
Our chat to promote their new Channel 5 consumer show Do The Right Thing is littered with the kind of banter which has kept them on the box together for 18 years.
The couple first started hosting as a duo on ITV’s This Morning in 2000 and thrilled viewers when they announced their engagement live on the show nine years later.
But Eamonn, who has a reputation for speaking his mind, says “snowflake” viewers are threatening their jobs on morning telly.
He says: “Some people wake up wishing to be offended. They are completely disappointed if they’re not offended or they haven’t got something to complain about.
“And social media has given them the platform to do it.
“I just think it’s sad. A lot of them feel, ‘We can change things by doing this and whatever’.
“But it would be awful to just be moaning and groaning about everything.”
Ruth adds: “I think people are too quick. If they don’t agree with you, they immediately want you sacked.
“I think what has happened now is that people almost aren’t allowed to have a different opinion.
“If somebody doesn’t agree with you or you don’t agree with someone’s opinion it doesn’t make them wrong, it doesn’t make you right. You’re just different.”
Eamonn singles out Sun columnist Jeremy Clarkson and former newspaper editor Piers Morgan as the only two broadcasters kicking back against a “wall of vanilla”.
Some people wake up wishing to be offended
Eamonn on Snowflakes
He continues: “That’s why I applaud and I say thank you to people like Jeremy and Piers for still broadcasting, because broadcast now is a complete wall of vanilla.
“Everybody is just trying to be, ‘I’m a really nice person, honestly — please don’t hate me because I’m really nice and everything I talk about is really nice and it’s been lovely talking to you’.”
Their new entertainment show Do The Right Thing sees the couple turn into crusaders as they tackle problems with rogue companies and red tape on behalf of Britain’s consumers.
Ruth says: “It’s about bureaucracy gone mad and political correctness gone mad. There are hard-working people who are sometimes struggling to make ends meet.
“That is just ridiculous and, the trouble is, for one person on their own it’s very difficult for them to fight.
“But with a programme like us behind them, we are there for the man on the street, the woman on the street, to fight injustice and I think people don’t stand up for people enough now. And there’s safety in numbers.”
Ruth will juggle the four-week run with her work on QVC, Loose Women and the couple’s regular Friday slot on This Morning.
And by her own admission, it’s the most work Ruth has ever had.
She says: “If you’d asked me ten years ago, I probably would have said they’d put me out to grass right now.
“I’m 58 this year and I’ve actually got more work in the past two years than I’ve had in my whole career.”
Ruth can partly thank her stint on Strictly Come Dancing last year, when she was paired with veteran Anton Du Beke, for her increased workload.
She beat the odds by making it to week eight of the competition, even seeing off trained dancer Aston Merrygold.
And despite telling The Sun at the time how she had acquired a new slimline body from all the training, Ruth now admits she has gained the weight again.
She says: “I’ve put it back on. My stomach’s come back and I just keep thinking, ‘Right, I must get back on track, I must get back on track’.”
Sadly, fans of the couple shouldn’t raise their hopes of seeing Eamonn, who presents the drivetime show on TalkRADIO, slipping into a sequin shirt any time soon.
He laughs: “I’d rather let you pull my teeth out with pliers than do Strictly. It’s not the hips, it’s everything. F****** hell.
I’m not up for swinging because I’m too jealous
Ruth on pair's sex life
“You’ve got to bend over backwards. It’s not just physical exercise, it’s extraordinary.
“As my wife will say, she thought she was a dancer until she was viciously exposed on the floor.
“I would never have the time or dedication and when it comes to the dance steps I’m mathematically dyslexic.”
- Do The Right Thing starts on Channel 5, Thursday at 9pm.
Not in swing of it
THE couple’s Channel 5 show last year, Seven Year Itch, saw Ruth and Eamonn follow nudists, doggers and swingers in a quest to find out how couples keep the flame alive.
But Ruth insists she and her husband have no intention of taking up any of the activities they saw.
She says: “Not for me, I’m too jealous.
“The thing is, we weren’t there to partake in any of it.
“We were just there to say to people, ‘Hey, did you know this is going on? Might be something you’re interested in.’ ”
Although the couple are not planning on stripping off and getting it on in the woods any time soon, they respect the couples who do.
Ruth adds: “Not one of them was unhappy or distressed. In fact they were all very, very happy.
“That couple that was always having it off outside – they loved the outdoors!
“They were happy McHappy and so in love. It worked for them.”
Cheeky Eamonn asked Ruth: “And the swingers, they were very in love. So if they were so in love, why did you not consider that?”
I’d rather pull my teeth out with pliers than do Strictly
Eamonn on dance show
While happy to hint at their own bedroom antics while most people are tucking into breakfast, Ruth is quick to defend any suggestion that they openly discuss their sex lives on TV.
She insists: “We would never in a million years discuss our sex life.
“And that makes me angry when people say, ‘Eamonn and Ruth discussing their sex life’.
“No. If you watch the show we don’t do that – we will hint at it.
“But the trouble is, we get asked the question, as you are asking it now, and then we answer it and it’s like, ‘Get a room you two!’
“What do you want us to say? No, we abstain now?”
With a cheeky glint in his eye, Eamonn says: “And can I just say Ruth loves making up. That’s all I’m going to say . . .”